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season greetings

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Thomas B. Thompson:
Merry Xmas to everyone :)

Donna:
Thank you, Thomas, for your Holiday Greeting.

I would also like to wish all of the Clan Thompson Family a
wonderful Christmas, filled with lots of family, friends, and
goodies that we shouldn't be eating   ::)

God Bless us all !!!

Donna
California

cheryllwith2ls:
Yes, Merry Christmas everyone! Hope everyone is well and warm. Looking forward to an exciting year!

Cheryll & Paul

Mary:
The Tradition of Mistletoe at Christmas
 
Mistletoe is a plant that grows on willow and apple trees (and in garden centers!). The tradition of hanging it in the house goes back to the times of the ancient Druids. It is supposed to possess mystical powers which bring good luck to the household and wards off evil spirits. It was also used as a sign of love and friendship in Norse mythology and that's where the custom of kissing under Mistletoe comes from.
 
When the first Christians came to Western Europe, some tried to ban the use of Mistletoe as a decoration in Churches, but many still continued to use it! York Minster Church in the UK used to hold a special Mistletoe Service in the winter, where wrong doers in the city of York could come and be pardoned.
 
The custom of kissing under Mistletoe comes from England. The original custom was that a berry was picked from the sprig of Mistletoe before the person could be kissed and when all the berries had gone, there could be no more kissing!
 
The name mistletoe comes from two Anglo Saxon words 'Mistel' (which means dung) and 'tan' (which means) twig or stick! So you could translate Mistletoe as 'poo on a stick'!!! Not exactly romantic is it!
 
Mistletoe was also hung on the old English decoration the Kissing Bough.
 
In the UK, before Christmas Trees became popular and dating back to the middle ages, another popular form of Christmas/mid winter decoration was the Kissing Bough or Bunch. These were made of five wooden hoops that made the shape of a ball (four hoops vertical to form the ball and then the fifth horizontal to go around the middle). The hoops were covered with Holly, Ivy, Rosemary, Bay, Fir or other evergreen plants. Inside the hoops were hung red apples (often hung from red ribbons) and a candle was either put inside the ball at the bottom or round the horizontal hoop. The bough was finished by hanging a large bunch of mistletoe from the bottom of the ball. (For a simpler bough you could also just have a horizontal hoop decorated and hung with apples and the mistletoe.)
 
When should you take the greenery down?
It is traditional to take down the decorations after Twelfth Night (5th January) on Epiphany (January 6th). But during the middle ages, greenery (including Mistletoe) was often left hanging up until Candlemas (when Christians celebrate Jesus going to the Jewish Temple as a baby) in early February!

Merry Christmas all!

Thomas B. Thompson:
Great story-----thanks

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